In the new thriller The Next Three Days, actor Russell Crowe plays John Brennan — an ordinary guy thrown into extraordinary circumstances when he hatches an intricate criminal plot to break his imprisoned wife (Elizabeth Banks) out of jail, where she’s serving a life sentence for a crime she says she didn’t commit.

The film is written and directed by Paul Haggis, who’s best known for writing and directing critically acclaimed dramas like the Oscar-winning Crash and 2007’s In The Valley of Elah, starring Tommy Lee Jones. Haggis is no stranger to the thriller genre — he wrote the screenplay for 2006’s James Bond-franchise relaunch, Casino Royale — but The Next Three Days is the first thriller that he’s both written and directed. Haggis noted that he’s always wanted to direct a thriller, saying, “It’s more exciting.”